“No, Jake,” she told him in frustration.
“Yes.”
The word was final. Claire closed her eyes and took a calming breath. She gave herself over to the care of her mate. She knew he would never leave her hanging. She pushed down her denial and waited patiently for him to tell her what he needed because she knew that their needs would match perfectly even if she didn’t understand at the moment why he was pulling away.
Jake took firm hold of his cock and squeezed the base, determined to hold off his orgasm. He was going to wait until he was deep inside of her to come. Leaning down, he kissed her lips lightly, licking at the sweetness of her before easing off the bed and running his hand down the length of her body as he made his way to the bottom of the bed.
Kneeling between her spread legs, he touched her inner thigh, needing the connection to her. He watched Claire as she watched him. Her eyes were wide with need as she watched him take hold of his shaft and stroke it from tip to base and back again. Claire’s eyes ate him up as she saw the way he touched himself. He saw the flare of desire that was displayed in her beautiful brown eyes. He also saw the way her sweet pussy dripped with renewed desire.
He moved closer to her, settling himself directly in front of her core. Taking his cock, he tapped it against her folds, stimulating her clit with each quick touch. He smiled at her gasp of pleasure.
“Feel good, angel?” he asked her, sliding his shaft through her folds before pressing deep inside of her.
“Yes,” Claire moaned, pulling against the silk scarves as she tried to reach out to pull him close.
Jake pulled back, sliding out of her body and looking down at his shaft that was slick with the proof of her desire. He pressed back inside of her, pushing so deep he could feel the mouth of her womb. Claire’s moan worried him and made him pull out once again.
“No,” Claire told him firmly. “Don’t stop. It feels so good, Jake.”
“Are you telling me what to do, Mate?” he asked her, smiling down at her as he slowly slid inside of her once again, pressing deep and retreating over and over again.
“Please, sir,” Claire whispered, gasping when Jake snapped his hips and plunged deeper. “You’re so easy, Mate.” Her laughter quickly turned into a moan as Jake brought them both unimaginable pleasure.
“Do you call me sir when you want me to love you harder, angel?” he asked, humor underlining the passion in his voice.
“Is it working?”
“Yes.”
He loved her harder, plunging deep and reaching between them to gather her wetness and circle her clit in tandem with each of his movements inside of her. He kissed her then, biting at her lower lip before capturing her moans of pleasure as he covered her mouth with his and swept his tongue inside to taste the sweetness of her.
Sliding his tongue across hers, he sucked on it with increased fierceness, taking her taste and her desire deep inside of himself. Kissing his way down her chin, he licked at her throat, sucking up a love mark and soothing the sting quickly.
“Jake, I need to come,” she pleaded desperately.
He leaned back and gripped her waist, pulling her up onto the incline of his thighs and snapping his hips like a man possessed. Reaching up with his right hand, he pinched her left nipple, that small sting of pressure just what she needed to send her over the edge.
Claire’s low moan intensified as her orgasm rolled through her. Her channel pulsed with pleasure, gripping Jake’s cock tightly. She called out his name in the barest of whispers as she experienced the joy that only Jake could give her.
Jake growled as she clamped down on his cock. Pressing his hips tighter against her core, he felt the wetness that dripped from her sweet channel. His orgasm tore through him, shooting his life’s essence out of his shaft in a torrent of seed. Claire’s orgasm continued to ripple around him, pulling more pleasure and seed from him.
He fell forward, careful to hold himself up on his arms so he wouldn’t crush his angel. She was breathing heavily as she slowly came down from her orgasm. He loved the feel of Claire’s naked breasts rubbing against his chest. He could feel the way her heart was racing.
Unwrapping the restraints from her thighs and then untying the silk scarves from the headboard, he settled her comfortably and took his place beside her. Gathering her within his arms, he pulled her against his chest and grabbed for the red silk scarves that were still tied to her wrists. He gathered the silk and twisted his left hand to hold her hands tightly against his chest. Moving her carefully, he settled her so that she was lying on top of him.
“Keep your hands where I put them, Claire,” he told her, kissing her forehead lightly as she cuddled against him. “I need to be inside of you.”
Claire spread her legs so that they framed Jake’s hips. She smiled as she felt Jake take hold of his cock and press it against her body. She eased up and slid back down to swallow every hard inch of him once again. Settling so that she was flush against his body, she sighed as the thickness of him filled her once again.
“You’re exactly where I want you, sir,” she whispered against his neck, biting down on his shoulder playfully.
“Yes. I am.”
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tighter against him. He was never going to let her go.
“My Claire,” he whispered. “I’m keeping you.”
Chapter 19
“Oh, crap!” Claire muttered as she bent down to pick up the text book and notebook that dropped as she ran toward the student center. It was so damned cold, but that wasn’t why she was running. Her class had been longer than usual today. They had been kept for an extra thirty minutes so that the teacher could speak to each of them about their progress in the massage therapy course.
Claire’s ability to shield herself from the thoughts and feelings of the others in the class had been sorely tested. Her head ached so badly, she thought she was going to throw up. When the instructor had finally dismissed them, she had fled, trying to put as much distance between her and the rest of the students as possible.
She normally packed all of her textbooks and notebooks into her backpack, put on her heavy coat, hat, and gloves, and slung the backpack over her shoulder so she could hurry to the student center where Jake was probably already waiting for her. But today, the class was longer, and the other students had been projecting increasing tension as the time had passed. Claire just needed to get out of there. As a result, she ran from the classroom without packing up her stuff, which was the reason she was picking up everything from the ground and freezing in the chilly weather. The snow that was falling was coming down at a steady clip. She knew that they were in for one heck of a storm.
She tucked the books against her chest and pressed on, reaching the student center in only a matter of minutes. She pushed open the door and hurried inside, going to the nearest table and setting her books and backpack down on top of it.
The center was filled with students and workers. Claire wasn’t sure if it was better to freeze outside in the snowstorm, or stay inside surrounded by so many people. The pain in her head continued and intensified. Choosing the lesser of two evils wasn’t a good choice to have to make.
Packing her books into her backpack, she quickly shrugged it on. She zipped her maroon coat and took the time to pull her knitted hat and gloves out of her pockets. She pulled the black hat on and tucked her wet hair up into it. Pulling on her black gloves, she sighed as her chilled fingers rubbed against the soft yarn of the gloves. She knew it was going to be a while before the chill left her.
Turning, she was about to leave the student center when the last two people she wanted to see stepped inside and walked directly toward her to stand before her. Her older sister Elise looked at her with unveiled hatred. Her mother Irene looked much the same.
What the hell are they doing here?
“I told you we would find her here, Mom,” Elise said smugly.
“You’re always right, baby,” Irene Hamilton
said sweetly, touching her daughter and brushing her blonde hair back to spread it beautifully across her shoulders.
“What do you want?” Claire asked, doing her best to shield herself from the two women who hated her.
“You’ve been lucky,” Elise said, looking up and down her sister’s body and sneering. She was not impressed with her sister, her sister’s looks, or her sister’s intelligence. As far as Elise was concerned, Claire was a means to an end. A very lucrative end.
Claire remained silent. How had she been lucky? Her entire life had been filled with pain and abuse. Lucky? Yeah, right! Her sister was delusional. Claire just wished that she was strong enough to push her mother and her sister out of her thoughts and memories, but she wasn’t. They would continue to torture her for the rest of her life.
“We’ve been watching you since you left us, Claire,” her mother said quietly as she stepped forward and pulled off Claire’s glove to grip her hand tightly. She knew that her touch caused her daughter pain, and she was willing to use whatever she had to use in order to get what she wanted.
Claire gasped at the contact but refused to allow the pain to show on her face. Her mother would only continue with the pain and do her best to increase it. Claire remembered the many times when she had been a young girl that her mother had hurt her in this way just before forcing her into the cellar or locking her in the attic.
“What do you want, Irene?” Claire asked again, liking the flash of annoyance that crossed her mother’s face at the use of her first name.
“I think that it’s time you came back home,” Irene said softly, her voice deceptively calm.
“Now, why would I want to do that?” Claire asked, wincing in pain as her mother tightened her hold on her hand.
Claire could feel the blackness within the woman’s soul. Her mother knew that Claire’s connection to her feelings and emotions would intensify if she was touched. Both her mother and her sister had used that knowledge to hurt and control her often when she had been a kid. It seemed that their level of cruelty hadn’t changed one bit.
Elise grabbed for her other hand and yanked the glove from it to grip it just as tightly as her mother did to her sister’s other hand. She smiled at the pain that flashed across Claire’s face.
“Claire, you’re coming home with us,” Elise said after a moment. “I don’t know why, but Tom Phillips is interested in you.”
“Tom Phillips? I haven’t seen him in years,” Claire said, confused. “What does he want?”
“Apparently, his father has given him an ultimatum,” Irene said, laughing softly. “If Tommy doesn’t settle down, old man Phillips won’t allow him to run his advertising agency when he retires.” She reached up and touched Claire’s cold cheek, satisfied to see the cringe of pain that Claire showed her that she experienced at the additional touch.
“Tommy seems to have a bad reputation with the women of this town. He’s in a ton of trouble with his father,” Elise said, laughing. “No woman will give him the time of day. But you’ll be perfect for him, Claire.”
“What? Are you crazy?” Claire was shocked and horrified by this new revelation. “I’m not interested.”
“Well, get interested,” Irene said angrily. “You’ve been of no use to us your entire life. Now you are.”
“You seem pretty intent on me hooking up with Tommy Phillips. Why? What’s in it for you, Irene?” Claire asked her, pushing aside the pain in her head in order to look at her mother evenly.
“Nothing.”
Claire scoffed, her soft laughter ending on a groan of pain as her mother pulled her hat from her head and tugged on her hair painfully. Her mother had become a master at inflicting pain over the years.
“I don’t believe that.”
She looked at her mother calmly, trying to send out her empathic ability to find out what the woman was hiding from her. She touched the blackness of her heart, immediately chilled by the coldness of it, and felt the hidden reason. The plan for payment was loud and clear. Tommy Phillips must have offered them a lot of money to make this connection happen.
She thought about Jake and his family and calmed somewhat. If she could just concentrate on the happiness, peace, and contentment that she experienced when she was with the McKade family, she might be able to get through this. Taking a chance that both her mother and her sister would be surprised by her act of defiance, she pulled away from both of them, twisting her body and backing up into the table.
Losing her balance, she fell backward and slammed into the chairs that were set up around it before falling to the ground. It hurt like hell, but the immediate relief from losing touch with Elise and their mother was well worth it.
She saw them stepping toward her and scrambled backward to get away from them. Her backpack impeded her progress, but she wasn’t going to give up.
The door to the student center opened and the most magnificent sight she had ever seen met her eyes. Jake McKade filled the room with his large body and even bigger presence. His blue eyes widened in shock as he saw her on the floor before the concern in them filled Claire with more love than she had ever thought possible.
“Claire!”
He was by her side in three long strides, pushing aside the chairs and drawing her up into his arms. His touch was a balm to her pain, alleviating it at once. She wrapped her arms around his waist and nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck, breathing in the scent that was unique to her mate.
“I’m so glad you’re here, Jake,” she whispered against the warmth of his skin. “I don’t feel good.”
“I know, angel,” Jake said gently, feeling the tension within her. “Let’s go home.”
Claire nodded, loving how his strength surrounded her and he shielded her from the world. She ignored her mother and sister as Jake pulled her carefully to her feet and held her gently against his body until she was able to stand without shaking. He picked up her fallen backpack and slipped his right arm through one of the straps to shrug it across his right shoulder. There was no way he was going to allow his angel to carry the heavy thing—especially when she wasn’t feeling well.
“Where are your gloves and hat, angel?” he asked her, brushing her black hair away from her face to carefully tuck it behind her ears.
Claire looked at her mother and sister and extended her hands to them, palm up, to wait for the return of her items. Neither one of them gave her what they had taken from her in order to hurt her.
Jake looked at the two women who stood before them and narrowed his eyes. He knew Irene Hamilton. He had seen her in town when he had been a young man. He remembered how she always acted as if she was better than everyone else. He also remembered how cold and mean she was. His Claire had been abused by this woman.
He wanted to exact revenge for all the times Claire had been alone, cold, in the dark, and told that she wasn’t normal. Looking at the young woman beside Irene, he knew that she had to be Claire’s sister Elise. Jake knew that this woman had participated in the abuse of his mate. Both of them looked at him without remorse or embarrassment.
“You’ve hurt Claire,” he said softly, his voice hard despite its quietness. “If you come near her again, I will have you arrested.”
“You can’t arrest a mother for talking to her daughter,” Irene said with a haughtiness that spoke of years of getting her way with everyone.
“No? You think not? Mrs. Hamilton, I will have a restraining order in place within the hour. If you dare to defy it, I will enjoy calling Sheriff Sturgess to have you arrested for hurting Claire,” Jake told them, his deep voice very near a growl. “You took her hat and gloves with the intention of causing her pain.”
“We didn’t,” Elise denied, looking at Claire and giving her a warning look. “Right, Claire?”
Claire looked at both women and took a calming breath. Now that Jake was there touching her, she was at peace, she was safe, and she was strong. These women would never have any control over her ever again.
> “Wrong, Elise,” Claire said, her voice strong. “You both had every intention of threatening me, and you intentionally hurt me.”
“They threatened you, angel?” Jake asked, turning to face her and drawing her tighter against his body.
“They want me to hook up with Tommy Phillips,” Claire told him calmly. “He offered them money to have that happen.”
“You will not be hooking up with anyone!”
Jake said it with such anger, Claire almost felt sorry for her mother and her sister. Almost. She looked at both women and smiled. It was about damned time that someone called them on their cruelty. She looked at her man and smiled up at him, reaching up to touch his face gently and calm him as best she could.
“I already have the best man in the world,” she told him softly. “You don’t have to worry about me ever being with anyone else, Jake. I love you. Only you, Jake McKade. I want you always. No one else.”
Jake calmed considerably at her words and her touch. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, breathing in her scent and soaking up her tenderness. When he opened them again, he looked directly into the softness of her brown eyes and lost himself to the beauty and kindness of his angel.
Turning to face Claire’s mother and sister, his blue eyes turned hard. He pulled Claire behind him just slightly as he stepped forward and stared at both women.
“Stay away from Claire,” he told them softly. “By the time I leave town today, I will have a court order put in place to keep you away from her. You will never hurt her again.”
He reached out and pulled Claire’s hat and gloves from their hands, smiling slightly at their gasps of surprise. They both stepped back with fear in their eyes. Good. He hoped that he scared the shit out of them.
Turning, he faced Claire and handed her her gloves then placed her hat on her head. He carefully tucked her hair up into the hat as he knew she always did for herself. He waited for her to put the glove on her right hand, but stopped her before she could put on her left glove.
Jake's Angel [Cowboy Mates, Psychic Connections 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 19
